Latest news reports said the death toll is at least 275. More than 1,000 people were hospitalised but close to 800 of those involved in the crash have reportedly been discharged. According to reports, railway officials and India’s minister in charge of the vast network, said on Sunday that a signal fault was the likely…
“Every year, over 400 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide – one third of which is used just once”, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. 2,000 truckloads a day “Every day, the equivalent of over 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic is dumped into our oceans, rivers, and lakes.” He noted that microplastics are finding their…
The UN-verified figures were reported by the agency as States, donors and the humanitarian community meet in Norway, for the Oslo Conference on Protecting Children in Armed Conflict. The 315,000 incidents were recorded in more than 30 conflict situations across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. They include more than 120,000 children killed or maimed;…
“I want to make the most of my time, even in prison, and this training should help me find a job later,” said Denny, 31, who has just over two years left of a five-year prison sentence. “Of course, I knew how to make a coffee before, but here I am learning about different flavours,…
In this feature, part of a series exploring the fight against trafficking in the Sahel, UN News focuses on the illegal fuel trade in the region. Transported by criminal networks and taxed by terrorist groups, illegal fuel flows along four major routes snaking across the Sahel towards ready buyers, siphoning millions from nations on the…
In a press statement issued late on Friday, the UN Security Council expressed its “deep concern” over the continued clashes, condemning all attacks on civilians, and calling for “rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Sudan”. The 15-member body emphasized the need for an immediate ceasefire, and reaffirmed its backing for the UN transition mission…
“Key peace and security issues, such as the situation on the Korean Peninsula, must be an area for cooperation,” she cautioned in a briefing to the 15-member Council on recent developments. “Diplomacy – not isolation – is the only way forward.” During the Council’s emergency debate on the issue, members expressed divergent views, with many…
Chronic underfunding over the past decade, and resultant severe austerity measures, mean UNRWA is already operating with a $75 million shortfall, putting its lifesaving programmes across the Middle East at risk. “As I address you today, I do not have the funds to keep our schools, health centres and other services running as of September,”…
Some 1.6 million people in Rakhine, Chin, Magway, Sagaing, and Kachin states are in dire need of assistance after Mocha’s 250 kilometre per hour wind gusts destroyed homes, farmland and livestock. Speaking from hard-hit Rakhine State capital Sittwe, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Myanmar, Titon Mitra, said that time was of the essence as food reserves…
In a statement on Friday, the experts said that emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence-based biometric surveillance systems, are increasingly being used “in sensitive contexts”, without individuals’ knowledge or consent ‘Urgent red lines’ must be drawn “Urgent and strict regulatory red lines are needed for technologies that claim to perform emotion or gender recognition,” said the experts,…
